What Are Co-Occurring Disorders?
A co-occurring disorder is a mental health issue that pairs with a substance abuse or behavioural addiction. There are many different types of co-occurring disorders, and they all vary in severity and recurrence.
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The cause of a co-occurring disorder is usually genetic and environmental, such as a history of family issues, trauma or money problems. This can make a person more susceptible to substance use and mental illness.
What is a Co-occurring Disorder?
A co-occurring disorder is when you have both a mental health problem and an addiction. It can involve a single mental illness or multiple at once, including addiction to a drug or behavioural issue like gambling.
Having a co-occurring disorder can make treatment more difficult because it can be hard to identify which issue developed first, but the fact is that both substance abuse and mental health problems are disorders of the brain.
People who have both a mental illness and an addiction need to be treated simultaneously. This is called dual diagnosis, and it can be a more effective approach than treating the symptoms of each disorder separately.
Symptoms of Co-occurring Disorders
A dual diagnosis or co-occurring disorder can be a difficult issue for physicians to identify. This is because the symptoms of both mental illness and substance abuse/addiction can vary significantly from person to person.
However, there are several signs and indicators that can help you pick out a patient with a co-occurring disorder. For example, you should watch for a patient who self-medicates with alcohol or drugs to alleviate the symptoms of their mental health condition.
People with mental health disorders are more susceptible to the harmful effects of substance abuse and addiction than those without a mental illness. This can be due to genetic predisposition or environmental factors such as poverty and social isolation.
A mental illness can also be caused by a traumatic experience, such as a childhood trauma or witnessing an event that left a lasting impact on your life. These events can cause changes in your brain chemistry and a greater chance of developing a mental illness or substance use disorder.
Treatment Options for Co-occurring Disorders
Often, co-occurring disorders are treated with an integrated treatment approach that addresses both the mental health disorder and the substance abuse issue simultaneously. This type of treatment has proven to be more effective than treating one condition alone.
People with co-occurring disorders are at a greater risk of relapse, so the treatment plan must be carefully designed to help them overcome their barriers to recovery. Therapists must take a collaborative approach and empower the client through all steps of treatment.
Co-occurring disorders are a major challenge for the treatment community, but with a commitment to treating these conditions as part of a person’s overall recovery, they can be treated successfully.
The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration reports that millions of Americans have a mental illness and a substance use disorder at the same time.
People with these two conditions tend to have similar symptoms and experiences, which can make it difficult to diagnose and treat them separately. Thankfully, there are many treatments that can be used to effectively address both disorders and improve the prognosis of each.
Treatment for Co-occurring Disorders
People who suffer from mental health conditions and addictions often struggle with what’s known as a “dual diagnosis.” Co-occurring disorders can include one mental illness and one substance use disorder, or they can involve multiple addictive and psychiatric disorders at once.
It is important to seek treatment for co-occurring disorders, which often require more complex care than treating a single condition. Fortunately, many treatment centers are now using an integrated approach that combines both mental health and substance abuse interventions for best results.
Some of the most effective treatments for co-occurring disorders are cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) and dialectical behavioral therapy (DBT). CBT helps individuals to change unhelpful thoughts and behaviors, and DBT reduces harmful behavior, such as cutting, suicide attempts, and substance use.
